Egan Nursing Students Mark Start of Clinical Education

Parents, siblings, and other family members joined nursing students at a Clinical Initiation Ceremony to commemorate their entry into the next phase of their nursing education.

Hundreds of friends and relatives gathered to celebrate second-year nursing students at a Clinical Initiation Ceremony during Fairfield University’s annual Alumni & Family Weekend. The event signaled entry into clinical practice for 154 members of the Class of 2027 in the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Meredith Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN, dean of the Egan School, provided introductory remarks. She explained that the Clinical Initiation Ceremony at Fairfield is a rite of passage similar to the traditional White Coat Ceremony but shifts attention away from what nurses wear to how they provide care.

She encouraged the future nurses to practice compassion in their chosen profession by singing to children while administering painful interventions, praying alongside grieving mothers, and gently squeezing the wrinkled hands of elderly patients awakening from sleep.

“Our work as nurses,” Dean Kazer said, “transforms us as individuals for and with others, and in this way transforms this world in which we provide compassionate care.”

Guest speaker and Fairfield alumna and parent Jo Ritchie MSN’11, DNP’16, P’22,’25, who serves as senior director of nursing professional development at Hartford Healthcare, assured students that they were entering the profession at a wonderful time rife with opportunities.

So that they might make the most of those opportunities and sustain their careers, Dr. Ritchie urged students to implement a system of self-care. “Today’s message is simple,” she said. “Be yourself; take care of yourself; be self-aware; practice your authentic self; nurture your inner self; and envision your future self.”

She added: “To adequately provide for those in need, your gift of self is essential.”

The ceremony culminated with the bestowal of timepieces to students. The fob watch is a traditional gift for those entering the nursing profession. Its characteristic upside-down face allows nurses to keep their hands free during assessments.

After walking in procession to the stage to accept their timepieces, students affirmed their commitment to the values of Fairfield University, the Egan School, and the nursing profession by pledging an oath to provide the highest quality of care and service to patients.

As the event drew to a close, a reflection was offered by Christopher Storz ’25, president of the Student Nurses Association at Fairfield. Storz relayed his experience tending to the social and emotional needs of a patient during his clinical rotation in Australia, where he studied abroad.

He shared that the seemingly insignificant act of just listening to the patient’s story had an unburdening effect on her. “In your clinical rotations,” Storz said, “you will see how much your time and presence can impact someone’s day.”

When the ceremony concluded, students congratulated each other and rejoined their families. A wave of smiles swept across the sea of red nursing scrubs.

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